Springtime Wedding at the Duke's Estate

Cui Yu, heir to the Cui clan of Boling, was born a flawless jade high above the clouds. He devoted himself to cultivation and statecraft, untouched by worldly desires. His grandmother wanted to arrange a marriage between him and the young cousin from the Office of Agriculture. He coldly waved the idea aside, and that bright springtime beauty was given to his second brother, Cui Jin. The young woman loved working the fields and often passed the corridor where he meditated, holding a fresh ear of grain in her hands. Her eyes brimmed with spring warmth as she sweetly called him, "Cousin." No matter how dazzling her lovely figure, he remained cold and still, as if he had never seen her. Jiang Runing had been frail since childhood, and the heir, skilled in both Daoist medicine and acupuncture, had treated her for years. She thought her cousin in the clouds could barely stand having to touch her skin. Then, on the day news of her engagement spread, her bedroom door swung open. As she turned back in alarm, there was her cousin, the one who had never once spared her a glance, arriving under cover of night. "Cousin," he called to her, his voice hoarse and raw, "How long are you going to keep up this act, hiding from me and avoiding me?" She stared at him, speechless. He pressed her against the headboard. "What is it you really want? Or do you have to see just how far I'll go for you?" He bent close, his scorching breath wrapping around her and swallowing her whole, burning away the propriety he had upheld for half his life. He had once pushed the moon into another man's arms with his own hands. Now he would tear off the mask of propriety and forcibly seize that radiance for himself. Later, in the elegant rooms of a country estate, the study of the prefectural office, and a quiet pavilion in a secluded Daoist temple... he held her close and would not let her go, insisting she marry him and him alone. Theme: Face life with a positive attitude and make it better.